Safe in... Well Out of London

[keiko]

Ended up outside of London, out by Heathrow, but I think all that matters at this point is that I'm here. Not in FL, not in LA (sorry about the burning to the ground soCal). I'm glad for the wonderfully dismal and overcast drizzle as my sunglasses were smashed by the porter loading my luggage on the ship.


I was disappointed when we got to NY and it was just like it appears in the movies. And pleasantly surprised that England is just like it is in the movies. Where NY is scarily rigid and comes off very forced, England has this beautifully organic flow that is full of charm and character with a seamless blending of super modern and the centuries old. <3 <3

I have the day off, today and tomorrow. Anyone wanna hang out?

~K

[Buster Friendly]

I was disappointed when we got to NY and it was just like it appears in the movies. And pleasantly surprised that England is just like it is in the movies. Where NY is scarily rigid and comes off very forced
~K

eh?

where were you in NYC keiko?

my favorite parts of the city are the oldest parts... downtown near wallstreet is very cool, lots of twisty alleys, chinatown is also a huge favorite...

NYC's a HUGE city... too much to take in, and i've lived here for about 8 years now.... (i think i've got most of manhattan on a mental map, but the other borroughs? nah.)

[keiko]

we spent most of the time at Penn Station/Madison Square and then up, way up to the clinic on e 73rd to the port. (pier 17 for reference). I wasn't saying that I was in anyway accurate, just that's the impression that I got while i was there for a day. Made the mistake of PLANNING for Amtrack to screw up and be five hrs late, where we ended up 12 minutes early. so i ended up in NY longer than I planned to be. and then the whole debacle that had me going all over the city with my luggage to get to the clinic in the first place (fucktard in orlando drew my blood to the wrong vial), means that my impression of the city was filtered through my bad mood. Getting to London was very much an "OMG LAND!" moment. (apparently i'm not as sea worthy as my ancestors.) I am VERY happy to have both feet on ground that doesn't move, and a bed that doesn't rock me to sleep. Though I did get a resurgence of the sea sickness on the underground yesterday.

maybe another time i'll see NY for reals and give it a better chance. I sincerely doubt it though. If things go as planned this week, I'll never set foot on American soil again.

~K

[Mr Karl]

have you started noticing how smoggy it is yet?

[Buster Friendly]

aah, yeah well midtown (penn station) is pretty much like that... now that i reflect manhattan is pretty much on a grid above canal st.

...and yeah, manhattan is no place to be when you're in a bad mood. LOL i spend most of my time around time square, where i work.

well, i wish you luck on your plans for escaping the Ewe Ess of Ay. guess we'll just have to come to Europe if we want to visit you.

[Donald Rilea]

Congratulations, Keiko, on making it across the Big Water, and landing in London.

Hope that the rest of your travels, and, should you decide not to return to Amerikay, the rest of your life and career in Europe, go far better than your wildest hopes.

[Mindgames]

have you started noticing how smoggy it is yet?

Hey! we fixed that years ago by banning the ritual burning of Frenchmen. Now a visitor to London has no atmospheric distractions from their enjoyment of our carbon monoxide mixed delicately with a top note of body odor and stale piss.


Oh, and Keiko - I hope you realize how much effort it took us to persuade everyone in London to set their clocks to the wrong time this morning, just to confuse the hell out of you....

[keiko]

mG- luckily i had to reset my clocks every night on the boat so the reset tonight was no biggie. And actually i was noticing how loverly it was here. No more smoggy than Orlando. Less so really. I've been mildly impressed with all the green efforts I've seen. I say mildly because they lost points for the clown in the underground trying to raise money for breast cancer research. Not that I have anything against breast cancer research, but the clown was creepy in his pink curly wig. No whats confusing me is how only half of everything is on the 24 hr clock. I kept trying to set my new phone to the 24 hr clock like the tvs and shit but it wouldn't take it. I thought the damned thing was broken, not to mention the afternoons that i wake up and stare at the tv trying to figure out what time it is. I'm loving it here other than that. the hardest thing is keeping my American accent rather than affecting a British one. I've got ppl guessing me from everywhere from Liverpool to Holland. Its a riot. Now if only the make up artist hadn't given me his sore throat....
~K

[Mindgames]

the hardest thing is keeping my American accent rather than affecting a British one. I've got ppl guessing me from everywhere from Liverpool to Holland

- because you're now officially a hinky-ass foreigner, and therefore instantly confusing-with-a-hint-of-attractive.

When you move about the States you're used to most people hearing you and saying "hey! I know that accent.. you're Atlanta-no... Norcross.. by the 7-11..". Now you have to get used to MAYBE being told you're American, but anyone east of Iowa usually gets flagged as Aussie. It doesn't help that all the Eastern European migrants learn English by watching reruns of Home Improvement, so if you do recognize a local accent it's probably a guy from Poland.

[keiko]

Actually ended up on set this morning with a bunch of chicks from LA (and one from Canadia). the hot Brit i wanted to do wasn't in my scene *pouts*

Of course then I got into tiff with my agent and all my attempts at keeping an American accent went right out the third story window. Luckily we cleared all that up. damned miscommunication.

Lucky me I get paid tomorrow. I am going to buy myself the warmest hat I can find... and a new wallet for all the funny shaped money and the oodles of not worthless change I now get to carry about.

And of course as soon as I start loving the beautiful overcastness of the foggiest england - the fucking sun comes out...

~K

[Mindgames]

And of course as soon as I start loving the beautiful overcastness of the foggiest england - the fucking sun comes out...

Today's sposed to be about 5 degrees above average (Celcius), so enjoy it while you can. Tomorrow the pigeons freeze solid and everyone moves into the tube system for the annual hibernation. It's how they filmed 28 Days Later yanno...

...and I have to ask.. do you sleep? like, ever? You can't be jetlagged cos of the whole not-being-on-one thing, and whilst I'm personally bored to tears of this damp little island I'd guess a young, wide-eyed-and-bushy-tailed scampster like you would have better things to do in a new country at 4am than talk to us!

[keiko]

i keep the oddest hours any way. Like i had to be on set at 9 so i woke up at 2 am so that by nine it was a pleasant afternoon shoot to me. and at four am when i have a 20$ bill in my pocket and i'm out by effing Heathrow the internet is a nice diversion. besides its bloody fucking COLD out there. As I only have my working heels, strappy useless things and my white sneakers - I can't go out dressed to the nines in white sneakers. As soon as my check clears on Thursday and i buy me some things I need, and a new pair of boots, i might go out this weekend, depending on what my shoot sched looks like.

I did notice how nice and warm - if stale - the tubes are. I also noticed the little mice that have turned the no mans land under the tracks into the perfect no-so-hibernation den. that the train I take from the studio back to the hotel goes above ground, so that i might pass out from the gentle rocking and the heat in the first 30 min of the trip but by hammersmith i'm awakened by the cold blast through the open doors. Very Rude. I get in, eat check messages and then crash, awakening about 2 am, leaving me with my turn on the puter at about 4 am. I keep such odd hrs. but I love the job i have that allows me the leisure to keep these hrs.

~K

[keiko]

*looks above* wow - i should not post when sick.

~K

[Mindgames]

oh I dunno... you made perfect sense to me..

(I could say "more than usual" but I won't... )

[keiko]

thanks sugar, i appreciate it.

~K